Screen lock does not work by default

[vidd]

xfce4-utils needs to depend (not recommends) on xlockmore (or a similar application) in order for the screen locking functionality to work properly.
Currently, xlockmore is set at "recommends" and this is not acceptable.
The logic is:
    DEPENDS = "Needed to function correctly"
    RECOMMENDS = "Additional useful functionality but not required for basic use"

The ability to lock a desktop is essential to desktop security, and therefore needs to be ear-marked as a required application, and not an optional application.

While I understand that, by default, *buntu marks recommends as well as depends for installation, the developers must realize that this setting can and will be over-ridden by users that, like myself, either do not want, or do not have the spare resources for, extraneous applications that do nothing but waste space.

In 8.10, xfce4-utils recommends xlockmore

[Charlie Kravetz (cjkgeek)]

Thanks for reporting this bug and any supporting documentation. Since this bug has enough information provided for a developer to begin work, I'm going to mark it as confirmed and let them handle it from here.

Since screen locking does not work unless xlockmore is installed, this needs to be changed to a "depends on" item. Xfce has no default screen locking unless the screensaver activates, with at least one minute required and more recommended for the timeout on it. xflock4 will not activate without having xlockmore installed. This allows instant screen locking, important on a portable when you are closing the lid.

Thanks for helping improve Xubuntu.

[Lionel Le Folgoc (mrpouit)]

Xflock4 is not the only script shipped by xfce4-utils. Thus, only recommending xlockmore seems correct ("a strong, but not absolute, dependency"), as the other scripts works fine (btw, xflock4 can activate without xlockmore installed, if xscreensaver/gnome-screensaver is running).

[vidd (vidd)]

While Xflock4 is not the only script in xfce4-utils, it is one of the scripts. It should be important to support ALL tools in a package, not just the ones that work without effort. It is interesting that you point out that if xscreensaver/gnome-screensaver is installed xflock4 supposedly works. My system has xscreensaver-gl and xflock4 did not work. This is actually besides the point, as neither xscreensaver nor gnome-screensaver are depends (xscreensaver is a recommends)

xfterm4 is a script in the package that works because xterm or x-terminal-emulator is a depends
startxfce4 is a script in the package that works because x11-server-utils and libxfcegui4-4 are depends and there needs to be a properly configured xfce4-session
xfbrowser4 is a script in the package that launches whatever is set as the system default browser
xfmountdev4 is a script in the package that will not work without thunar. Thunar is a depends elsewhere so this script not working without it is rarely noticed.
xfhelp4 onpen "file:///usr/share/xfce4/doc/C/index.html" in the default web browser

The only actual scripts that don't depend on other applications (unless they do and I'm just not seeing it) are xfrun4 and xfce4-about

[Lionel Le Folgoc (mrpouit)]

> My system has xscreensaver-gl and xflock4 did not work.
This is normal, as it only contains opengl screensavers that can't run without a screensaver program (gnome-screensaver ot xscreensaver).

> startxfce4 is a script in the package that works because x11-server-utils
> and libxfcegui4-4 are depends and there needs to be a properly configured
> xfce4-session
Afaik, startxfce4 works without xfce4-session installed (see the bottom part of /etc/xdg/xfce4/xinit).

> xfhelp4 onpen "file:///usr/share/xfce4/doc/C/index.html" in the default web browser
Yet xfce4-utils doesn't depend on a browser. ;)

> The only actual scripts that don't depend on other applications (unless they
> do and I'm just not seeing it) are xfrun4 and xfce4-about
They depend on several libs (such as libxfcegui4 and libxfce4util).

Xfce4-utils package recommends xscreensaver (or gnome-screensaver or xlockmore or xlockmore-gl). As you wrote above, recommended packages are now installed by default, so this is enough to have a working xflock4. This is rather subjective, but, imho, someone who disabled installation of recommended packages is obviously able to install them manually.

[Jarno Suni (jarnos)]

If someone installs xubuntu-desktop by "sudo apt-get install --no-install-recommends xubuntu-desktop", it is IMHO not obvious why screen locking does not work (by e.g. Action Buttons panel item).

[Pasi Lallinaho (knome)]

I have to agree with Lionel, even as I have disabled installing recommendations myself.

If you have disabled installation of recommended packages, then you can't expect everything working. At least you should be aware that a single package won't bring you all the functionality (with depends only) you expect it to. Locking the screen is not the core functionality of xubuntu-desktop after all. I see this might be a problem for a user who has recently disabled installing recommends for maybe having to do that (small HD or lousy internet), but it is not a major issue, however.

[Lionel Le Folgoc (mrpouit)]

No change on this one, people who disable installation of recommended packages are supposed to know what they are doing.